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Juju Chang
Emmy Award-Winning Co-Anchor of ABC’s Nightline
Juju Chang
Emmy Award-Winning Co-Anchor of ABC’s Nightline
Biography
One of the most prominent Asian Americans in broadcast news, Juju Chang is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of ABC News Nightline and a regular contributor to Good Morning America and 20/20. With the rise of hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Chang leveraged her platform to become a much-admired champion of social change. She made U.S. broadcast history co-anchoring the 2021 ABC News Live special, Stop The Hate: The Rise In Violence Against Asian Americans alongside fellow Korean-American co-anchor Eva Pilgrim and a cast of AAPI journalists, thought leaders, lawmakers and celebrities. Chang also reported from the scene at the mass shootings at three Asian-themed spas in Atlanta, co-anchoring the ABC News 20/20 breaking news special, Murder In Atlanta.
Chang’s highly visible reporting on Asian Hate is the culmination of decades of covering everything from natural disasters to terrorism, mass shootings, immigration, violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and, most recently, the inequities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Known for her in-depth personal narratives and long-form storytelling, Chang has won acclaim for stories with underlying themes of civil and women’s rights and social justice. These include her critical examination of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy, which she told through the eyes of one pregnant woman and her family living among the 60,000 asylum seekers camped for months along the Rio Grande. Her award-winning report, “Trans and Targeted” on violence against transgender women of color was the latest of a series of stories on the targeting of LGBTQIA+ Americans, including a GLAAD award-winning report on Matthew Shepard’s murder. Internationally, Chang has been a powerful voice on gender-based violence, including a trip through Central Africa on the front lines against Boko Haram and #bringbackourgirls. She also traveled to Honduras for “Femicide: the Untold War,” an eye-opening look at rampant violence against women.
In addition to reporting, Chang has profiled newsmakers like Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; entertainers such as Tom Hanks, Chris Pratt and Nicki Minaj; and social media moguls Kendall Jenner and Dude Perfect.
An ABC News veteran, Chang joined the network as an entry-level desk assistant in 1987 after graduating with honors from Stanford University. Prior to her current roles at ABC, she was a producer for World News Tonight, a co-anchor on the overnight show World News Now and news anchor for Good Morning America. Chang’s work has been recognized with numerous awards, including multiple Emmys, Gracies, a DuPont, a Murrow and Peabody Awards.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Northern California, Chang is member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a founding board member of the Korean American Community Foundation.
Speaker Videos
Juju Chang Sizzle Reel
Introducing: Juju Chang
Human Connection
Juju Chang | 2021 Trailblazer Honoree Speech | 11th Annual Gala
Juju Chang: Commencement Reel
"Nightline" anchor Juju Chang on anti-Asian violence & her trailblazing career
Stop the Hate: The Rise in Violence Against Asian Americans | ABC News
Speech Topics
Stopping Asian Hate
It began when presidential-level taunts about “the China virus” and “Kung Flu” fanned the flames of violence against members of the Asian community. An 85-year-old Thai-American grandfather was senselessly pushed to the ground in San Francisco, later dying of his injuries. An 83-year-old Korean-American grandmother in White Plains, New York was spit on, punched in the face, knocked unconscious and left lying in her own blood. Then came the horrific mass shootings at the Atlanta spas that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent. Asian Hate had become a tragic symptom of COVID-19, with AAIP people of all ethnicities and backgrounds being blamed for the pandemic. In this moving talk, Emmy winner Juju Chang examines the root causes of anti-Asian xenophobia — racism that is deep-seated in both American history and American culture. Citing positive examples of rising activism and advocacy, Chang breaks generations of suffering in silence to drive an honest and thought-provoking discussion of how we can all come together as allies to create real and lasting change.
Women’s Leadership: Bringing Your Life Experience to Work
When Juju Chang started out as a young journalist, she would dress in masculine clothing to “look as tough as the guys” and shy away from reporting on the AAPI community for fear of being pigeon-holed. Today, she not only embraces her identities as a woman, mother of three sons, wife, volunteer, Jew by Choice and Asian American — she actively brings her lived experience to her work as an award-winning journalist and network anchor. From co-hosting a prime-time news special on Asian Hate and highly praised coverage of the Atlanta Spa Shootings, to covering gender inequality, immigrant stories and human rights around the world, Juju has elevated her career by whole-heartedly bringing her life experience, identities and passion for social justice to her work. In this inspiring talk, Juju empowers more women to celebrate their authentic selves, blend their talents with their passions, and bring their invaluable lived experiences to their professional roles. According to Juju, it’s also a win-win for any organization. Celebrating diversity of experience helps to create more inclusive and innovative workplace cultures that are also more in touch with their communities and customers.
The Fetishization & Dehumanization of Asian Women
“Oooh…you look so exotic…” “You’re a delicate lotus flower… ” “So, where are you from…I mean, really from?” Juju Chang’s answer: “CALIFORNIA!” While these kinds of comments seem benign and are mistakenly meant to be complimentary, Asian-American women have universally endured them as part of a dehumanizing trope that characterizes them as hypersexualized, weak and submissive. Now, in the COVID-driven era of Asian Hate, this stereotyping has escalated to include verbal assaults, mass shootings, and a crime rate against AAPI women that is twice that of AAPI men. According to one expert, it even feeds into rape culture. In this revealing talk — which draws heavily on her acclaimed reporting of the mass shootings at Asian-themed spas in Atlanta and conversations with scores of women throughout her lifetime — Juju Chang brings a compelling voice to a long-standing issue that is only beginning to be discussed. She also takes on unconscious bias, the notorious “bamboo ceiling,” and how we can all stand up to fight biases against AAPI women in our workplaces and communities.
Diversity & Inclusion: Understanding the AAPI Experience
The AAPI identity includes over 50 ethnic or language groups, but there’s one thing they have in common: A feeling of “otherism” that includes being asked “but, where are you really from?” even if their family has been in the U.S. for generations. This “otherism” was weaponized during the pandemic, with anti-Asian hate crimes rising 169% in 15 American cities during the first three months of 2021 alone. In a conversation with members of your organization, Juju Chang takes on key components of biases against Asian Americans and the ways they are harmed, including scapegoating and the fetishization and dehumanization of women. She also confronts the “model minority myth,”: the “Crazy Rich Asian” mischaracterization that renders a huge populations of low-income Asian Americans invisible. Believing that the best way to end unconscious bias is to get to know someone different and hear their personal story and points of view, Juju leads a thought-provoking conversation that increases understanding and amplifies allyship.
What the Pandemic Revealed About Healthcare Disparities
In May of 2020, when New York City was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, Juju Chang reported from one of the epicenters of the epicenter: the South Bronx. Home to 1.5 million, people, the South Bronx had the city’s highest rate of COVID deaths. Contributing factors included a high proportion of essential workers, inability to work at home, density of housing, and intergenerational households. But Juju’s reporting revealed that the true root cause was actually poverty itself. In the Bronx and in poor communities across the U.S., COVID was merely shining a light on long-standing healthcare disparities and inequities. In this America, children were twice as likely to have asthma because of environmental pollution, mold, mildew and vermin; adults have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes; and all are impacted by food insecurity and lack of access to healthcare. In fact, even before COVID, someone living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan lived 10 years longer than someone in the South Bronx. In this powerful talk highlighted by clips that give voice to actual South Bronx residents ranging from a nurse and a hospital sanitation worker to community activists, Juju examines healthcare disparities in America — and how we must not forget the fatal inequities that the pandemic laid bare.
50% Korean. 100% Jewish.
“50% Korean. 100% Jewish.” That’s how Jew by Choice Juju Chang describes her three sons with husband Neal Shapiro. Their blended cultures share a reverence for education, a powerful immigrant experience, and sadly, a history of persecution, discrimination, “otherism” and scapegoating in the United States. In this highly personal talk, Juju shares her journey to Judaism and Jewish identity and discusses the historical parallels between Asian Hate and anti-Semitism. Noting that the Trump and COVID-era rise in internet hate speech against Asians was first flagged by the Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt, Juju calls for the two communities to become allies against the rising forces of hate in our country.
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